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The group Banda is based in Slovakia, Bratislava at the river Danube near the Austrian and Hungarian border. Also on their second album ‘hraBanda’ the group plays traditional folk, fresh arranged. In an acoustic environment we hear the Slovak history: innovative and detailed.
The essence of the Slovak (and Hungarian) music is the straight lined playing. Ón the beat by the double bass (con arco) and the violin. That gives the traditional folk music an enormous drive and the cimbalom all the space to improvise. Banda plays in this style but adds a fine dose of pop, jazz and Roma (‘Ojoj‘) with Celtic and Slavic influences. The result is flashy music with a shining Slovak signature. Lovely melodies are transformed with sparkling dynamics, irregular beats (‘Asturias‘) and beautiful instrument combinations. Men and women sing, one at the time or in harmony (nice in ‘Zozula’). Exciting is the voice of Eva Brunovska (‘Frajera‘), who sounds familiar like the Hungarian singer Irén Lovász. Violin, cimbalom, accordion are played very well, besides instruments like the (bass) guitar, bouzouki, mandolin added with percussion. Sometimes, the band is live assisted by a dance group. The name ‘hraBanda’ means ‘the game Banda’. A metaphor for this wonderful sextet that turns the Slovak folk heritage into a modern and splendid piece of music.
HraBanda van Banda
author: Mattie Poels
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